Yandex Launches Fast-Loading Turbo Pages

The Russian search engine Yandex has launched fast-loading Turbo pages. Yandex Turbo pages are similar to Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages and load much faster than normal pages by only loading text, images and video and by using stripped down code. Yandex Turbo pages open in less than a second and are designed to improve user experience on slow mobile connections. Mobile internet speeds are significantly slower in Russia compared to the West. The stripped down nature of Yandex Turbo pages mean that they contain 10 times less content than a typical webpage, and load on average 15 times faster than a typical webpage on a 3G mobile internet connection. Ivan Smirnov, the head of Yandex Turbo pages, commented on the rollout, saying: “As the online audience in Russia relies more heavily on mobile, Turbo pages will provide a more fluid user experience. With its fast download time, Turbo pages will bring both users and publishers the benefits of more accessible and contextually relevant content.”